J. Sharp (Born 1859) was born in Bridgeport, Ohio to Irish parents. From his childhood, he was fascinated by anything he could learn about the Indian-Americans. However, this interest did not extend to anything taught in school. He was more interested in swimming, fishing and drawing. One day he nearly drowned in an incident in a river. He was pulled out of the water by friends who thought he had died. However, he was resuscitated by her determined mother after being carried home. Unfortunately, the artist never recovered completely from his accident because his hearing was damaged and continued to deteriorate speedily, and eventually left him utterly deaf and he had to quit school. It was really difficult for him but his unconquerable spirit was already apparent, as he never let his deafness stand on his way.
Sharp learned lip-reading and carried a pencil and pad with him wherever he would go. He was determined to learn how to draw and paint. It was around this time that Sharp began to realize that he had an innate talent for drawing, and he sketched often in the outdoors. He became the first painter to visit New Mexico, before Blumenschein and Phillips made their famous wagon trip. Sharp left behind a legacy comprising a vast cultural record of American landscapes, life, and portraiture. Sharp’s art is referred to as poetic, and he sometimes completed hundreds of paintings in a year. His art is in many galleries, institutions and museum around the world.
